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No respite from biting cold
Avalanche threat in upper Manali region
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Damage due to snow may exceed Rs 15 cr in Chamba
Farmers demand friendly online info system
MNREGA funds can be used for cemented pathways
Move to lease out power project raises eyebrows
Insurance co told to refund Rs 30,000 to complainant
Gender ratio improves in state: Census data
20 hospitals to have health info system
CPM ridicules invitation to Team Anna
HPA meeting gets lukewarm response
2 girls struggle for life in Tanda hospital
Contractor ‘assaulted by cops’ for demanding receipt
HPSIDC set to exceed target by 30 pc
Committee to redress staff’s grievances
One killed in road accident
House gutted, Rs 10-lakh loss estimated
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No respite from biting cold
Shimla, January 17 The city and the surrounding areas are having intermittent snow and rain since afternoon. People shivered in freezing temperature. The roads leading to upper Shimla and Kinnaur remained blocked beyond Chharabra and tourists could not go to the nearby resort of Kufri. Several vehicles were stranded due to slippery road conditions and those who had gone to see the shooting of Bollywood film “Blue Mountain” were caught in a traffic jam. Saloni and Seobagh had 10 cm and 9 cm of fresh snow, respectively, while lower hill areas had rain. Guler was the wettest with 55 mm of rainfall, followed by Kheri and Kangra (49 mm), Hamirpur (47 mm), Dharamsala (45.6 mm), Nagrota Suriyan (38 mm), Nadaun (34 mm), Dehra Gopipur (30 mm), Chamba (28 mm), Una, Bhoranj, Sujanpur Tira and Bangana (27.5 mm each), Una (27 mm), Ghamroor (25 mm), Palampur (23 mm), Naina Devi (20 mm), Mehre (19 mm), Nurpur (18 mm), Ghumarwin (16 mm), Amb (15 mm), Renuka (14 mm), Bilaspur (11 mm) and Tissa (10 mm). Manali was the coldest in the non-tribal areas with a minimum of -1.0°C, followed by Shimla 0.2°C, Dharamsala 2.1°C, Solan 3°C, Bhuntar and Palampur (3.5°C each) and Mandi 5°C. Mercury hovered between -6 to -15°C in tribal areas. The local Met office has forecast rain and snow at isolated places over the next 48 hours and cautioned that a fresh western disturbance would approach the region around January 21. An official spokesperson said efforts were on to restore normality in snow-affected areas and almost all major roads except the Shimla-Rampur highway via Narkanda, the Shimla-Chopal road via Theog and the Shimla-Rohru road via Kharapathar had been opened for traffic. Power supply had been restored in Kullu and Manali and efforts were being made to restore electricity in Kinnaur, Kaza and Chopal. |
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Avalanche threat in upper Manali region
Manali, January 17 The entire upper Manali region continued to face the rigours of winter following heavy snowfall at the Rohtang Pass and on the high peaks surrounding the region. The temperature hovered around sub-zero throughout the day. An avalanche threat loomed large over some areas of the upper Manali region. SDM, Manali, Balbir Thakur said the threat of an avalanche loomed over in the avalanche-prone areas of the upper Manali region, Nehru Kund, Kulang, Kothi, Gulaba, Solang valley and Dhundi areas, where local people had been warned against venturing out of their houses. He further said the alert had been sounded to panchayat pradhans concerned through the field revenue staff today. Meanwhile, the Manali-Kullu National Highway was opened for vehicular traffic today and all local and long-route Manali-bound buses were plying between Manali and Kullu. But all local buses remained suspended on the Manali-Naggar (left bank) road and the Manali-Kothi and Solang roads. The heavy snowfall in the region has gladdened orchardists and farmers as they are now expecting a good crop. |
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Avalanche blocks Chandrabhaga
Chamba, January 17 And thereafter, it is known as the Chenab when it enters into the terrain of Jammu and Kashmir state. Meanwhile, in the wake of the recent heavy snowfall, inhabitants residing in the hill slopes at an altitude above 2,000 m in snowbound areas have been advised not to venture in avalanche-prone areas, according to an official communiqué issued yesterday. The state government had also advised the residents of the snow-covered areas to clean the snow from the rooftops of their houses and bunkers to avoid any
casualty due to roof collapse, the communiqué further said. |
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Damage due to snow may exceed Rs 15 cr in Chamba
Chamba, January 17 The reports revealed that officials had swung into action and were on the job for the restoration of roads, irrigation, electricity and water supply network so that life of the inhabitants living in high-altitude habitations could be put on
the track. Simultaneously, the officials were taking stock of the damage caused owing to the snowfall all over the district so that it could be sent to the government, the report said. However, fresh rain and snow were causing problems in relief operations. Meanwhile, people living in rural hilly terrains were still facing hardships in the absence of water and electricity, blockade of roads and disruption of transportation devices, the reports reaching the district headquarters here said. |
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Farmers demand friendly online info system
Mandi, January 17 Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, and the agricultural university, Palampur, have set up toll-free numbers to provide the desired information to the farmers. However, farmers rue that these numbers do not work and they are unable to get the desired information. The farmers say universities and the National Horticulture Board should join hands and come out with a dedicated online facility for farmers. They should include this facility as part of the NHTM. “If we want to access latest information in the fields of horticulture or agriculture, we are unable to do so as the Internet does not work in rural areas due to poor connectivity,” says Laxman Thakur, chairman, Ecohorts Society. The government has no quick-response system in place for the purpose and farmers have to fend for themselves as far as updating themselves is concerned, he adds. Dinesh Singha, an apple orchardist from Dalash in Kullu, says the extension services of research and development (R&D) are non-existent and the common farmer has to grope in the dark for finding relevant inputs. “Farmers do not know what is happening in the advanced countries in agriculture as the benefits of R and D, if any, are not reaching the common farmer in the state,” he adds. Besides, there is no electricity in winter and the Internet service has a limited reach in rural areas. The government must come out with some assured rural broadband Internet service that can be included as part of the NHTM so that it is affordable for each farmer, says BD Sharma, a progressive farmer from Churag, Mandi. The Vice-Chancellor of the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Prof KR Dhiman, says, “We have a toll-free number for farmers, which was started recently. When we get a query on any subject, we ensure that the scientist concerned provides that information to the farmer in the shortest possible time”. Dr Dhiman said they had a network of fruit research stations and krishi vigyan kendras in key locations where farmers could get the desired information.
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MNREGA funds can be used for cemented pathways
Dharamsala, January 17 However, sources said the relief had come with a rider. The union ministry had allowed the construction of cemented pathways only in those villages where stones were not available. Where stones were available, it had directed that instead of cemented pathways stone-pitched pathways should be constructed. Moreover, the relief had come for construction of pathways within villages and not those connecting two villages. The orders of the union ministry would facilitate the construction of cemented pathways in upper areas of the state where stones are not available. However, in lower areas proposals for the construction of cemented pathways might face problems on the issue of availability of stones. The Director, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Subhasesh Panda, said since quarrying was banned in most areas of the state, stones would not be available for the construction of pathways even in the lower areas of the state. Stones would be available only in areas where panchayats had some open query in their villages. So, in most lower areas of the state also cemented pathways would be allowed, he said. Last year the union ministry had objected to the construction of pucca pathways in rural areas of the state under MNREGA. The ministry had also blocked funds used by the state for the construction of pucca pathways in villages. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has been advocating the use of MNREGA funds for the construction of cemented pathways in hill areas. Panda said the directions received from the Union Government had been forwarded to the respective deputy commissioners for further action. Though the proposal of the state government to construct cemented pathways has been partially accepted by the Union Government, its other proposals have not yet got through. The state government had recommended that the material, employment ratio in MNREGA works should be increased to 50:50. At present as per the guidelines of the MNREGA scheme, just 40 per cent of the total sanctioned budget for any project can be used for purchasing material. The remaining 60 per cent has to be spent on hiring local labour. The Director, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, said the proposal to increase the material percentage in MNREGA works was pending with the Employment Guarantee Council of the Union Government. The state government had also proposed that it should be allowed to hire the services of locals for guarding crops in villages from wild animals under the MNREGA scheme. However, even this proposal has not yet been accepted by the Union Government. |
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Move to lease out power project raises eyebrows
Shimla, January 17 Outsourcing of operation and maintenance (O and M) of projects entailing high operational costs is in line with the directions of the state electricity regulatory commission, but the terms and conditions proposed in the draft bid document for leasing out the project are tailor-made for a particular party. Unlike the Holi project, the O and M of which has been outsourced for a period of three years, the Thirot project is being leased out for 20 years in one go and with the option to augment its capacity up to 9 MW. The first right of refusal will be granted to M/s Moser Baer for taking over the project on lease since it had made a suo motu proposal to take over the project on appropriate terms. It will be subject to its bid being at least 70 per cent of the highest bid and it will have to match the highest bid. In case its bid is short by more than 30 per cent, its right on the project will be forfeited. Such advantage is provided under the “Swiss Challenge System” of bidding to reward the original proponents for conceiving a project and investing substantial amount in investigations to work out the feasibility. Accordingly, the state hydro policy allowed this benefit only for self-identified projects and it is not applicable to the Thirot project, which was commissioned way back in October 1995 at a cost of Rs 67 crore. The board spent large sums periodically thereafter on undertaking major maintenance works and with the latest improvements carried out at a cost of Rs 12 crore, it will generate full power from June 2012. Moser Baer has neither conceived the project nor made any investment on investigations and all that it has done is to write a letter to the government that it was interested in taking over the project and as such granting it the first right of refusal is patently wrong. Moreover, the funds for the construction of projects were provided under the tribal development plan to provide power in the remote area. Further, the lessee could augment its capacity from 4.5 MW to 6.0 MW or 9.0 MW and use the additional generation over and above the designed energy of 28.820 million units as “construction power” for new projects. However, given the capacity of the water conducting system, the capacity cannot be increased beyond 6 MW and the 1.5 MW of additional power available will meet only a fraction of the requirement. The move has come at a time when employees are putting pressure on the government to award more projects to the board for meaningful deployment of surplus project staff. Principal Secretary, Power, Deepak Sanan said the draft bid document had been put on the web and the document would be given a final shape after taking all aspects into consideration. He said the government also planned to lease out the Saach project on similar terms and conditions. |
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Insurance co told to refund Rs 30,000 to complainant
Sundernagar, January 17 The complainant had purchased an insurance policy in July 2010 and paid a premium of Rs 30,000, but when he received the policy he found some new conditions in it and his signature was also forged. So he wrote to the opposite party to cancel the policy. Although the policy was cancelled, the premium was not refunded to him. The forum held that the act of insurance company amounted to deficiency in service as per the Consumer Protection Act. |
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Gender ratio improves in state: Census data
Shimla, January 17 Addressing a meeting of the State Supervisory Board constituted under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique Act here last evening, he said it was an achievement as the CGR had improved as compared to other states like Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka. The drive launched by the state government under the Beti Hai Anmol campaign had delivered the desired results. It had declined from 908 to 886 in Uttarakhand, 909 to 883 in Rajasthan, 916 to 899 in Uttar Pradesh, 913 to 883 in Maharashtra, 961 to 943 in Andhra Pradesh and 946 to 943 in Karnataka. The minister said effective steps had been taken by the state government for the uplift of women, which included 50 per cent reservation in the panchayati raj institutions, free education up to the graduation level, one seat in MPhil for the single girl child, besides other incentives. He said under the Beti Hai Anmol campaign, “prabhat pheries” and rallies were being organised with the support of anganwari workers, self-help groups, mahila and yuvak mandals and schoolchildren. Special signature campaigns, in which nearly 1 lakh signatures had been collected, were also organised. Blood donation campaigns, exhibitions and folk media campaigns were the other highlights. Bindal directed the officers to ensure vigorous monitoring and cent per cent registration of ultrasound machines and to put in place a reliable information system. He said a six-month training would be imparted to doctors in radiology, obstetrics and gynaecology under the Act and the next phase of the awareness campaign under the Beti Hai Anmol campaign would be launched from February to December. |
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Rs 57.88 cr being spent on water schemes in Hamirpur: CM
Nara (Hamirpur), January 17 Addressing a public meeting at Nara during his two-day tour of Hamirpur district after dedicating a motorable bridge over the Nara-Galot road to the people and a science block constructed at a cost of Rs 62.68 lakh in Government Senior Secondary School, Nalti, he said efforts were afoot to link the Baba Balak Nath shrine with a ropeway. The state government had also planned to construct the Dhaneta-Bangana tunnel. He said 6,535 references were received in the Chief Minister’s office from people of Hamirpur district, which were sent to the district administration and action had been taken in 5,609 cases. The Chief Minister said of the 2,996 complaints received under e-samadhan, 2,892 had been disposed of and of the 1,724 requests received by the Deputy Commissioner’s office, action on 1,622 had been taken. He said Rs 2.26 crore would be spent on the construction of irrigation schemes for the Brahladi, Nalti and Nara areas and a check dam would be constructed at Daknal Nullah. The Chief Minister also assured to provide funds for a mahila mandal bhawan and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for a link road from Nara to Nalvi. He said a veterinary dispensary would soon be made functional in the Nara panchayat and Rs 2 lakh would be sanctioned for the construction of a link road from Changar to Badi. The Chief Minister said the government had decided to give free uniforms to all students from Class I to X in government schools under the Atal School Uniform Scheme from this year which will be given twice a year. Education Minister ID Dhiman, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur and MLA Urmil Thakur also addressed the gathering. |
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20 hospitals to have health info system
Shimla, January 17 Stating this while inaugurating a 10-day national workshop on “Directing HMIS to strengthen public health systems” here yesterday, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal said in the first phase, the HMIS would be implemented in 20 hospitals of the state. All these hospitals would be connected with LAN (local area network) and WAN (wide area network) to achieve this objective. The workshop was organised by the Society for Health Information System Programmes. The HMIS is a computerised clinical information system for improved hospital administration and patient care which will provide an accurate, electronically stored medical record of patients to be utilised for statistical requirements and research purposes. It will be implemented in six districts - Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Solan, Mandi, Kangra and Una - before March 31 and the remaining six districts will be covered in 2012-13. A state data centre will be established where data of all hospitals will be integrated and made available online. Bindal said the system study had been completed for 15 hospitals and it would be completed in rest of the targeted hospitals before March. The HMIS was implemented on a pilot basis in DDU Hospital, Shimla, last year under which nine modules were developed. It would help in storing all data of patients and would be made available on the Internet. Patients would be provided identification numbers on the basis of which they could get treatment in any hospital of the state. HP was one of the few states in the country to start online data entry in 2010-11. Participants from 10 countries, including the Philippines, Norway, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Zimbabwe, and 10 Indian states are attending the workshop. |
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CPM ridicules invitation to Team Anna
Shimla, January 17 Member of the state secretariat of the party Tikender Panwar said the much-publicised invitation to Team Anna was a ploy to hoodwink people of the state so that the BJP could wash off its dirty hands sullied in corruption. He warned the BJP that the CPM would expose its hypocrisy and doublespeak on the issue of corruption by mobilising public opinion. His party had demanded a thorough probe into the scandal. The gravity of the scandal could be judged from the fact that the officer who had nearly closed the investigations had been shifted. An estimated loss of Rs 50 crore had occurred which had been usurped by politicians in connivance with bureaucrats and business dealer, he alleged. The CPM had demanded resignation of the Civil Supplies Minister and the removal of the vice-chairperson of the corporation who happened to be an RSS functionary. Immediate action must be taken against the Managing Director and the Director of the Civil Supplies Department. |
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HPA meeting gets lukewarm response
Mandi, January 17 The HPA in its bid to give a third alternative in the state for the Assembly elections due late this year, could not muster much support as only representatives of the CPM, CPI and Vikas Manch from Kangra turned up for the meeting. The CPI and the CPM told the HPA that it should come out with a concrete agenda for Himachal and chalk out a common minimum programme so that they could think of going ahead with the HPA. The BSP, the SP and other fronts, including the BMM of the BJP, were conspicuous by their absence. CPI state secretary Des Raj said after the meeting that the CPI was not averse to a third political alternative in Himachal provided the HPA had a concrete agenda for the state. So far the HPA had no agenda and no common minimum programme and nothing concrete had emerged at the meeting, he added. CPM general secretary Bhupender Singh said the party had asked the HPA to prepare a common minimum programme so that they could proceed ahead. The HPA, led by the NCP, which has no political base in the state, attributed the poor response to the meeting to bad weather. HPA and NCP spokesperson DP Yadav said most leaders were in touch with them and expressed their inability to attend the meeting due to bad weather. HPA convener Dina Nath Shashtri, executive president Anirudh Sharma, who is also the state president of the NCP, were among those who attended the meeting. |
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2 girls struggle for life in Tanda hospital
Kangra, January 17 Reetu (7), a resident of Bilaspur village near Haripur, received more than 45 per cent burn injuries when her clothes caught fire while burning garbage outside her house. Reetu was rushed to a hospital at Nagrota Surian from where from she was referred to Tanda Medical College Hospital. In a case of poisoning Anuradha (22) of Lambagoan was admitted to Dr RP Government Medical College Tanda where she was referred to from the Civil Hospital, Palampur. Anuradha had reportedly taken some poison by mistake instead of her regular medicine. The police is investigating both cases. |
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Contractor ‘assaulted by cops’ for demanding receipt
Bilaspur, January 17 He was publically assaulted and beaten black and blue by several policemen, who abused and threatened him with dire consequences and framing of more cases against him for his crime of “daring to demand a receipt from the police”. This charge was made by members of a largely attended deputation of the District PWD Contractors Union which met Additional Superintendent of Police (ASI) Bhagat Singh Thakur here on Sunday evening. They strongly resented the traffic policemen’s misbehaviour with contractor Naresh Kumar of Kandraur, near here, and demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident and suitable action against the culprits. The deputation, led by district president Shashi Sharma and vice-president Mahender Thakur, and attended by more than two dozen contactors of the union, also presented a memorandum giving full details of the incident and demanded justice to the aggrieved contractor. They said the policemen on traffic duty proving true to their threats “to teach him a lesson”, further took his scooter into their possession and challaned it saying that he did not have required documents with him. Contractor Naresh Kumar told mediapersons here that he had all the relevant papers of the scooter with him in its dicky. But when he tried to open the dicky for showing them the documents, a constable snatched his keys from him and took away his scooter forcibly right in front of people who had gathered there. He said he had been given threats and feared for his life. The ASP gave an assurance to the delegation that the needful would be done.
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HPSIDC set to exceed target by 30 pc
Shimla, January 17 A government spokesperson said here recently that the corporation was expected to achieve a target of Rs 18 crore by the end of the year, thus exceeding its projected target by nearly 30 per cent. The corporation had executed major works of various departments, including Industries, Technical Education, Fisheries, Police and Prisons. The corporation had civil works of around Rs 35 crore in hand, he added. The Board of Directors of the corporation had recently approved a proposal for strengthening its civil construction wing and accordingly the process had been initiated for recruitment of two assistant engineers (civil), one assistant architect and three junior engineers (civil). He said the corporation tried not only to adhere to the time schedule for completion of various civil works, but also to focus on quality of construction.
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Committee to redress staff’s grievances
Mandi, January 17 Addressing a gathering at a prize distribution function organised by the Health Employees Mahasangh at the zonal hospital here today, the minister said the government had implemented the pay commission and had given pay scales on a par with Punjab. He assured the association that he would treat their demands sympathetically. The minister said the meeting of the state advisory committee would be chaired by the Chief Minister. He gave away prizes to employees for their services and donated Rs 11,000 to the employees’ union.
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One killed in road accident
Nurpur, January 17 Pickup driver Deepak of the same village fled after hitting the victim. The police has impounded the vehicle and lodged a case under Sections 279, 336 and 304 (A), IPC, against the driver on Tuesday. The body of the deceased was handed over the family members after postmortem examination.
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House gutted, Rs 10-lakh loss estimated
Kullu, January 17 The quick response of the Fire Department helped prevent the spread of fire in the locality. Fire Officer Hira Lal said the estimated loss was of about Rs 10 lakh. However, the Revenue Department was yet to assess the loss. No loss of human life was reported. The Fire Officer said five families were affected. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained.
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